Legal claims defining the scope of protection. Each claim is shown in both the original legal language and a plain English translation.
1. A method for generating a guide line comprising: detecting by a processor a cursor positioned over a ruler on a user interface of an authoring program executing on the processor; altering an appearance of the cursor by the processor from a first shape to a second shape; receiving a first input from a user at the processor, the first input associated with a user input device; generating the guide line in a first orientation if the first input from the user input device is a click; and generating the guide line in a second orientation orthogonal to the first orientation if the first input from the user input device is a click-and-hold while moving the cursor away from the ruler.
The software creates guide lines to help edit objects. When the cursor hovers over a ruler in the authoring program, its appearance changes. A single click on the ruler creates a guide line oriented in one direction (e.g., vertical). Clicking and holding the mouse button while dragging the cursor away from the ruler creates a guide line oriented in a perpendicular direction (e.g., horizontal). The processor detects the cursor, alters its appearance, and generates the guides based on user input.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: positioning the guide line over a workspace in a position indicated by the first input, wherein the guide line is not part of a document opened by the authoring program.
The software described previously lets you position the guide line over the document's workspace based on the initial click or click-and-drag. This guide line is separate from the actual content of the document being edited; it's just a visual aid. The guide line's position is determined by the user's input during its creation.
3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising: receiving a second input from the user at the processor, the second input associated with the user input device, and wherein the second shape of the cursor comprises two parallel lines, the first input comprises a click-and-hold input, and the second input comprises a dragging input for positioning the guide line over the workspace.
Building on the previous description, the cursor changes to display two parallel lines while the user is creating a guide line. The user clicks and holds while dragging the cursor to position the guide line exactly where they want it on the workspace. This dragging action after the initial click-and-hold places the guide. The processor receives a dragging input and positions the guideline accordingly.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the ruler and the guide line have a horizontal orientation.
In the method previously described, the ruler and the guide line you create by click-and-drag are both horizontally oriented. So you're dragging horizontally along a horizontal ruler to create a horizontal guide line. The cursor shows parallel lines during this dragging action.
5. The method of claim 3 , further comprising: positioning the cursor having the first shape over the ruler; altering the first shape of the cursor to the second shape of the cursor; receiving a third input from the user at the processor, the third input comprising a click; and displaying a second guide line over the workspace orthogonal to the guide line.
Building upon the method where you can create and position a guide line by clicking and dragging, if you hover the cursor over the ruler and just click (without dragging), a second guide line appears that's perpendicular to the first one. For example, if you created a horizontal guide line by dragging, a vertical guide line will now appear if you click the cursor over the ruler again. The cursor appearance changes before the click.
6. The method of claim 5 wherein the second guide line is a vertically oriented guide line.
The second guide line that appears after the single click (as described in the previous addition to the base method) is specifically a vertically oriented guide line. This complements the original horizontal guide line created by click-and-drag.
7. The method of claim 3 , further comprising: selecting the guide line; selecting a function for modifying a visual characteristic of the guide line; and modifying the visual characteristic of the guide line in response to input from the user.
Taking the base method with click-and-drag guide line creation, you can select a guide line you've already created, and then select an option to modify its visual appearance. The user's subsequent input (e.g., choosing a color, thickness, or style) changes how the selected guide line looks.
8. The method of claim 3 , further comprising: selecting the guide line; and dragging the guide line to a side of the workspace, wherein the guide line is no longer presented to the user.
In the base method with guide line creation and positioning, you can select a guide line and drag it to the side of the workspace. This action removes the guide line from the view; it's no longer displayed to the user. This effectively deletes or hides the guide line.
9. The method of claim 3 , wherein the ruler is horizontally oriented, the first input is a click, and the guide line is vertically oriented.
In the base method with guide line creation by click-and-drag, if the ruler is horizontally oriented, a single click will create a vertically oriented guide line. So a single click on a horizontal ruler creates a vertical guide.
10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the second input is a dragging input moving a position of the guide line.
The base method involving guide line creation by click-and-drag allows dragging the mouse cursor after the initial click to move the position of the guide line, allowing you to fine-tune the placement.
11. A system for displaying a guide line comprising: a processor configured to detect a cursor positioned over a ruler displayed on a user interface of an authoring program, alter an appearance of the cursor from a first shape to a second shape in response to detecting the cursor positioned over the ruler, receive a first input from the user at the processor, the first input associated with a user input device, generate the guide line in a first orientation if the first input is a click, and generate the guide line in a second orientation orthogonal to the first orientation if the first input is a click-and-hold followed by input moving the cursor away from the ruler.
The software system displays guide lines on a workspace. When the cursor hovers over a ruler, its shape changes. A single click creates a guide line in one direction (e.g., vertical), while a click-and-hold followed by dragging the cursor creates a guide line in a perpendicular direction (e.g., horizontal). The processor detects cursor position and user input to generate the guide lines.
12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to: display the guide line in a vertical manner when the ruler is horizontally oriented and the first input is the click; and display the guide line in a horizontal manner when the ruler is vertically oriented and the first input is the click.
Expanding on the software system, if the ruler is horizontal, a single click creates a vertical guide line. Conversely, if the ruler is vertical, a single click creates a horizontal guide line. The processor determines guide line orientation based on ruler orientation and the single click input.
13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to: display the guide line in a horizontal manner when the ruler is horizontally oriented and the first input is the click-and-hold follow by input moving the cursor away from the ruler.
Expanding on the software system, when the ruler is horizontally oriented, a click-and-hold and dragging the cursor away from the ruler creates a horizontal guide line. The processor determines the guide line orientation based on ruler orientation and the click-and-hold and move input.
14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to display the guide line when the cursor extends beyond a threshold value away from the ruler.
Further specifying the software system, the horizontal guide line created by click-and-drag (on a horizontal ruler) only appears if the cursor is dragged a certain distance away from the ruler. There's a minimum drag distance (threshold) before the guide line becomes visible.
15. The system of claim 11 , further comprising: a display controlled by the processor for displaying the guide line on the user interface.
The software system for displaying guide lines also includes a display screen that's controlled by the processor. The processor renders the guide lines on the display as part of the user interface.
16. The system of claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to: receive the first input from the user, the input associated with the user input device, receive a second input selecting the guide line, and display a dialog box for changing a visual characteristic of the guide line.
In the software system where a single click on a horizontal ruler creates a vertical guide line (and vice versa), after creating the guide line, you can select it and then a dialog box appears. This dialog allows you to change the visual characteristics of the selected guide line (e.g., color, thickness).
17. A computer readable storage media comprising instructions that when executed cause a computer to: detect a cursor positioned over a ruler on a user interface of an authoring program, the authoring program configured to edit a document in a workspace of the authoring program; alter an appearance of the cursor from a first shape to a second shape in response to detecting the cursor positioned over the ruler; receive a first input from a user; generate the guide line in a first orientation orthogonal to the ruler if the first input is a click; and generate the guide line in a second orientation parallel to the ruler if the first input is a click-and-hold that moves the cursor away from the ruler.
A computer-readable storage medium contains instructions for an authoring program. When executed, the instructions detect the cursor over a ruler. The cursor appearance changes. A single click generates a guide line perpendicular to the ruler. A click-and-hold while moving the cursor generates a guide line parallel to the ruler. This allows users to create guide lines easily.
18. The computer readable storage media of claim 17 , wherein the instructions when executed further cause the computer to: receive a second input from the user and position the guide line over the workspace of the authoring program in response to receiving the second input, wherein the guide line is not part of the document authored opened by the authoring program.
Expanding on the previous computer-readable storage medium description, the instructions also position the guide line on the workspace based on user input. The guide line is separate from the document being edited; it's just a visual aid for the authoring process. The guide line's position is not part of the saved document.
19. The computer readable storage media of claim 18 , further comprising a third input for displaying a dialog box for changing a visual characteristic of the guide line.
Expanding the computer-readable storage medium's functionality, there are instructions to display a dialog box for changing the guide line's visual appearance. This allows customization of the guide line's color, thickness, or style based on user preference.
20. The computer readable storage media of claim 17 , wherein the ruler is horizontally oriented, the first orientation is vertical, and the second orientation is horizontal.
Regarding the computer-readable storage medium instructions, if the ruler is horizontal, a single click creates a vertical guide line, and a click-and-drag creates a horizontal guide line. This specifies the orientation behavior based on the ruler's orientation.
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October 21, 2014
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